<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>House on Fire by applecake101</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29231160">House on Fire</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/applecake101/pseuds/applecake101'>applecake101</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Throne of Glass Series - Sarah J. Maas, 琅琊榜 | Nirvana in Fire (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Afterlife, Crack Crossover, Multi, Post-Canon, that pretty much sums this up</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 09:00:10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,885</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29231160</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/applecake101/pseuds/applecake101</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Aelin is bored. Mei Changsu is having a bad day. What happens next?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Glancing over, she sees that the newcomer is a man dressed in similar robes, with a light smile on his face. Along with a few scars.</p>
<p>Huh.</p>
<p>She can’t quite read the story they tell, beyond the pain he must have felt. How intriguing.</p>
<p>He looks up from where he’s cajoling the boy, and bows in greeting.</p>
<p>“Good day. I am… Su Zhe, and this is my ward, Fei Liu. Please forgive him of any offence, he likes to play and does not know when to stop. Who might I have the honour of addressing?”</p>
<p>She inclines her head in response and looks him in the eye.</p>
<p>“Aelin Ashryver Galathynius, at your service.”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aelin Ashryver Galathynius | Celaena Sardothien/Rowan Whitethorn, Fei Liu &amp; Lin Shu | Mei Changsu | Su Zhe, Lin Shu | Mei Changsu | Su Zhe &amp; Xiao Jingyan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>House on Fire</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello ToG fans! Hello NIF fans! I'm not expecting there to be much overlap between these two groups, but who knows, perhaps I'll be surprised! </p>
<p>After I finished watching NIF, I decided that a ToG/NIF crossover would be a good idea - think about it, both Aelin and Lin Shu hide their identities for a long time and engage in political sneakiness! It's perfect! But the thought of writing a long fic and all the planning and time it would take put me off. Today, however, I thought: 'what if, instead of a ToG AU, I just make Aelin and Lin Shu meet? That wouldn't take so long, would it?'</p>
<p>And as a consequence, I gift this to the world. It will probably take a while to finish all the same, and it is decidedly low on my list of priorities, so I apologise in advance for my tardiness.</p>
<p>Please enjoy, comments and constructive criticism encouraged! I've tried my best to make it fairly comprehensible to people who only know one of the series, but if more details are needed let me know and I'll see what I can do.</p>
<p>The setting is loosely inspired by Greek mythology - neutral territory, right?</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Aelin meets him by chance.</p>
<p>Or well - not really. If she’s honest.</p>
<p>Look, there’s not much to do in the Underworld besides sit and wait. And with her circle of friends, she’ll be waiting a while.</p>
<p>Elide had, of course, passed on centuries ago, and had been reincarnated not long after that, as a daughter of Fae nobility. Lorcan had been ecstatic. He’d hardly been able to wait for her to grow up before marrying her again.</p>
<p>He couldn’t hide it, no matter how hard he tried, just as he hadn’t been able to hide the pain he’d felt at her death. <em>Irritable asshole</em>.</p>
<p>She had considered trying for reincarnation herself, but…</p>
<p>It’s nice, here. Peaceful. And if you’d asked anyone who knew her, <em>peace</em> was not something they’d have thought she desired, but she was tired.</p>
<p>So, so tired, even after abdicating to her eldest daughter and travelling the world with Rowan. She’d used up so much of her energy in her youth, fighting against the Valg.</p>
<p>So when she felt herself beginning to fade, she told Rowan, and they talked.</p>
<p>She could tell he was worried, and sad, and she’d felt a little guilty for leaving him behind again. But he’d only said it was what she needed, and made her promise to wait for him wherever she ended up.</p>
<p>She’d in turn made him promise not to do anything silly like trying to join her before his time.</p>
<p>So here she is. Waiting. And bored out of her mind, for once.</p>
<p>One of her favourite pastimes is people-watching (a variation of sitting and waiting). Occasionally she’ll spot someone she thinks she knows, and go to chat. She hasn’t seen hide nor hair of Aedion or Lysandra, but she’s been missing her cousin and best friend for a long time, and it’s no different here.</p>
<p>Anyway - people-watching. There are all sorts here, some normal, some… less so. Once she caught a guy trying to build a sort of flying machine, while loudly telling everyone within hearing range that he missed cheese.</p>
<p>There are some people she tries to ignore, too. Poor souls who died horribly and are learning to cope with their trauma. People who forgot they were dead. The <em>children</em>.</p>
<p>But this particular child catches her attention. He’s wearing strange robes. He’s moving across the arid landscape like he’s flying. He looks <em>happy</em>. Not just blank, or resigned, but happy.</p>
<p>Not many do.</p>
<p>So she does the only logical thing. She follows him.</p>
<p>He’s fast; so fast that she finds herself pushing her Fae body harder than she has in <em>ages</em>. She’s not unfit - it doesn’t seem like anybody’s physical state changes, down here - but he moves like a gust of wind, a breath of fresh air, such as doesn’t reach the depths of the Underworld.</p>
<p>He’s also perceptive. He’s noticed her, despite her efforts to be discreet, but he seems to think it’s a game and increases his speed even more.</p>
<p>They pass thriving fields of grass, dense patches of scraggly wood, and even -</p>
<p><em>Is that a </em>mountain<em>? Who knew the Underworld was so vast.</em></p>
<p>After a good hour or two, he stops abruptly and turns to glare at her.</p>
<p>“Stay,” he says, in a gruff voice.</p>
<p>Taken aback, she stands stock still for a moment, but when he turns to leave, she follows him.</p>
<p>He stops again and repeats his command.</p>
<p>She cocks an eyebrow and steps forward. His glare deepens, and when she takes another, he attacks her.</p>
<p>She’d been expecting something of the sort, and so this doesn’t catch her off guard. Nevertheless, he fights with the same speed he runs, the same fluidity and grace, and it’s been a while since she fought anyone.</p>
<p>She finds herself on the defensive before she knows it. His style is unfamiliar to her, and this makes it hard to predict where his next move will come from.</p>
<p>Block, thrust.</p>
<p>Eventually, she starts to wonder if she’ll take a serious hit - she can still <em>feel</em> pain - and concocts a strategy to extricate herself from the situation.</p>
<p>But before she puts it into place, a teasing voice interrupts them.</p>
<p>“Fei Liu, are you having fun?”</p>
<p>“Su-<em>gege</em>!”</p>
<p>The boy - Fei Liu - abandons the fight so quickly she loses her balance and only <em>just</em> manages to stay upright.</p>
<p>Glancing over, she sees that the newcomer is a man dressed in similar robes, with a light smile on his face. Along with a few scars.</p>
<p>
  <em>Huh.</em>
</p>
<p>She can’t quite read the story they tell, beyond the pain he must have felt. How intriguing.</p>
<p>He looks up from where he’s cajoling the boy, and bows in greeting.</p>
<p>“Good day. I am… Su Zhe, and this is my ward, Fei Liu. Please forgive him of any offence, he likes to play and does not know when to stop. Who might I have the honour of addressing?”</p>
<p>She inclines her head in response and looks him in the eye.</p>
<p>“Aelin Ashryver Galathynius, at your service.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Mei Changsu - Lin Shu, Su Zhe, however you want to call him - has been having a bad day. It is not long since he and Fei Liu arrived here, the boy appearing mere days after his own death. The thought saddened him slightly, but he also couldn’t help but feel some relief.</p>
<p>He’d already located his mother and father amongst the other dead soldiers of the Chiyan army, but he was not the cheerful, wilful and wild son they’d known. He’d changed a lot since then.</p>
<p>He’d had to. He wants to scream this at them, sometimes, when he notices another pitying glance or confused stare. Some, even among his own battalion, don’t seem to believe that he is their Young Marshall, although his parents had been swiftly convinced, thank the heavens.</p>
<p>He’d had to change, and it had been his choice, but also his only option.</p>
<p>His parents, who knew the strength of his feelings towards Jingyan, had not been too surprised at his explanation - that his new body was the result of the Poison of Bitter Flame, and that he’d spent the rest of his short life manoeuvring Jingyan towards the position of Crown Prince.</p>
<p>They’d looked proud, as well as sad.</p>
<p>“<em>Xiao</em>-Shu, only you could be so foolish as to set this course, and also be clever enough to succeed,” his mother had sighed, while his father had grinned and said, “That’s my boy!”</p>
<p>But even so, they were like strangers to each other now, although he still loved them deeply. He had, he admits to himself, been glad when Fei Liu had appeared. Fei Liu had been his staunchest companion in his new life as Chief of the Jiangzuo Alliance, always on hand to protect him or cheer him up with his antics.</p>
<p>Fei Liu is a blessing. He apologises to Lin Chen in his heart - the quack doctor can take care of himself, but he must be lonely without either of them around. In the aftermath of the war, though, he won’t have much time for moping - he has his intelligence network to maintain. </p>
<p>Knowing Lin Chen, he’ll find someone new to bother before too long. He offers a silent prayer for the unlucky soul.</p>
<p>Jingyan, too, will be busy for some time, stabilising his position as Crown Prince of Da Liang, and Da Liang’s position as victor in the latest round of fighting, clearing out corruption and improving conditions for the citizens. He knows Jingyan is more than capable of the task; still he wishes he could be there to provide counsel and support him from the shadows.</p>
<p>He hopes Jingyan doesn’t miss him too much. He has Nihuang, at least, and once she is free to return to the capital, perhaps they can grieve together. They’d both thought him dead, once, after the massacre of the Chiyan army, so the situation was not wholly new.</p>
<p>Jingyan will have to get used to being lonely, though. He’d been so afraid of it, the solitude of the throne, but it is inevitable for someone of his station.</p>
<p>Mei Changsu is not often lonely, with his family and friends from the Chiyan army and Fei Liu filling the nearby terrain.</p>
<p>Today, however, Fei Liu has gone off somewhere. He’d got upset in the morning, when he’d been defeated by Lin Shu’s father during their spar, and he’d run off into the distance.</p>
<p>Taking his leave of his parents, Mei Changsu had sat down at the pavilion on the hillside (he’d love to know how it had been constructed, but no details were forthcoming), and set to work copying the Art of War. His current project is to recreate all the classic texts, and perhaps some other books from his personal library, but it would take time, even with his prodigious memory. He’d finished one section, sipped his tea, and called for Fei Liu.</p>
<p>He was bored. Sue him.</p>
<p>But Fei Liu hadn’t come, meaning he wasn’t within hearing range. No matter, he’d be back before too long.</p>
<p>He continued to work for a few hours. Yet as time flew past without Fei Liu accompanying it, he began to grow worried. Who knew what lay beyond the valley where he and his kin found themselves? Fei Liu could handle himself in a fight against most people, but he hadn’t been able to discover who the powers of this realm were, or if there were any threats lurking in the landscape.</p>
<p>Setting his writing tools down, he stands up, frustrated at himself and frustrated at Fei Liu. Is he losing his touch, now that he’s accomplished his long-cherished goals in the world of the living? He’d been able to work in much more discomfort than this in the past.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, he can tell that he won’t be able to achieve anything, not until Fei Liu is found at least, and so he wanders off in search of him.</p>
<p>Having a body fashioned from his spirit is a benefit - he no longer feels tired after a few steps, and no longer has to stop to cough every few minutes. Consequently, when he hears the sounds of unarmed combat in front of him after a short journey, he is not winded at all, and approaches on silent feet.</p>
<p>It is Fei Liu, after all; and he’s fighting a woman with pointed ears and strange clothes. She’s holding her own, which is impressive - she seems more skilful than even Nihuang - but she’s clearly losing, and he decides to rescue her.</p>
<p>He calls out to Fei Liu, who comes bounding over like an adorable puppy, and then looks up at the woman, who is assessing him with a frank gaze that unsettles him somewhat.</p>
<p>Bowing, he introduces himself.</p>
<p>“Good day. I am…”</p>
<p>What name should he use? All three of his are well-known in Da Liang, and though she appears foreign, that is no guarantee of ignorance. He goes for the safest option.</p>
<p>“…Su Zhe, and this is my ward, Fei Liu. Please forgive him of any offence, he likes to play and does not know when to stop. Who might I have the honour of addressing?”</p>
<p>She doesn’t seem to recognise the name, thank the heavens, but continues staring as she inclines her head and says,</p>
<p>“Aelin Ashryver Galathynius, at your service.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>gege - older brother, a term of endearment for older males</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Also, Lin Shu/Jingyan is one of my favourite ships, but I haven't tagged it since they never get together in canon, and I am not killing poor Jingyan off so soon just to develop their relationship. Sorry!</p>
<p>Also - why not Wallace and Gromit? Don't judge.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>